Another teen charged in connection to a froshing case from last summer pleaded guilty and received a conditional discharge Tuesday.
The teen, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, entered his plea to a single count of assault with a weapon before being given the conditional discharge in St. Albert Youth Court.
The sentence allows the teen to avoid a criminal record provided he follows a set of conditions over a six-month period. Those include performing 25 hours of community service and writing a letter of apology to the victims.
The sentence is in line with previous verdicts handed to three other male youths who pleaded guilty to identical charges last December.
The teen was one of five male youths who spotted two younger Grade 9 students at the Akinsdale 7-Eleven on the evening of June 20 last year. The males told the younger teens, one of whom knew the older group, that they were going to be hazed.
The two victims unwillingly accompanied the five teens to a wooded area behind the Safeway on Hebert Road. One of the older teens brandished a hockey stick that he picked up from home.
The teens struck the victims between two and three times each. While neither boy suffered long-term injuries both had bruising and trouble sitting for several days.
The teen who entered a guilty plea Tuesday was 16 years old at the time of the attack and had no criminal record, and has avoided trouble with the law since. His lawyer, Gary Smith, said the teen deeply regretted his actions and was eager to put the incident behind him.
The young man also apologized directly to the court and said he was eager to move on.
Judge Joanne Goss said she decided to follow the precedent set from the December sentences, but she admonished the young man for the ordeal he and the other teens put the victims through.
“I don’t know if you can imagine how frightened they must have been.”
Goss also imposed a six-month weapons ban and required him to submit a DNA sample to the national database, which is automatic with any conviction for assault with a weapon.
A fifth teen was found guilty after a trial in early January. He also received a conditional discharge, requiring a letter of apology to the victims and a letter to the court explaining his actions. His probationary term was shorter than the other boys at only two months and he was not required to perform any community service hours.
